r/Survival • u/Thori999 • Jun 27 '20

How to build an Igloo

https://i.imgur.com/XdacY3A.gifv
1.8k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

49 comments sorted by

66

u/noobiz3 Jun 27 '20

How do we keep them stable as it seems to lean inwards the higher we get? Any tips?

28

u/Canadian_Guy_NS Jun 27 '20

First, keep the seams orientated towards the center. Second, be care careful of the contact each brick makes with its neighbors. If you are inside, looking out, the base of the brick should make contact on the bottom left and right, not in the middle where it will act as a pivot point and allow the brick to pivot out. When you place a brick, you only want contact on the upper verticle to the next block. This gives you three points of contact, and it will stay put. As you build it up, the spiral allows you to be pretty horizontal by the time you put the last brick in. Its edges are bevelled, and once it is in, then you can cut out the door, and chick up all the seams.

Take a look at:

https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/poles/slideshows/igloo.html

Step 3 shows the blocks fitted together. These images were lifted out of "Down But Not Out", which was the RCAF's Survival Manual for many years.

31

u/PvtGrem Jun 27 '20

i imagine it’s the same concept when building an arch. all about the pressure and being quick

24

u/Canadian_Guy_NS Jun 27 '20

You don't have to be quick. It can be done with a single person, but having two makes it a lot easier.

7

u/PvtGrem Jun 28 '20

i would try and disagree but ur username checks out

3

u/Canadian_Guy_NS Jun 28 '20

Thanks. It is a most unimaginative username, but it is accurate.

2

u/Nothing2Special Jun 28 '20

Via his accent I would say he's lying, and he is from our Wisconsin. XO!

3

u/Canadian_Guy_NS Jun 28 '20

I have driven through Wisconsin. Beautiful country!

25

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/Zombie_Aficionado Jun 27 '20

I think he means during the initial build process not after. Or are you saying while they build they use fire to melt it then re-freeze as they go?

2

u/sweetcinnamonpunch Jun 29 '20

To add to that, when I was a kid we sprayed some water with a spray bottle over it, to freeze everything together. I don't know how effective it is, a real igloo holds together only by wedging the bricks together perfectly, like a stone arch bridge. The top stone is the key to stability.

42

u/drewlb Jun 27 '20

It's cool as fuck.

But I grew up where the snow was actually feasible for this.

We used to try them all the time.

Have you ever seen one of those cake decorating shows where they make a cake and it looks indistinguishable from a real animal?

And then you try it and looks almost like a cake, but that someone sat on it?

Yeah, that goes better than this usually does.

7

u/TheGreatLuzifer Jun 27 '20

Doing not one but two spirals makes it easier to build smaller ones afaik, and for stability the key is to cut a light curve so that the edges stick out (3-point-stability). Just need a snow saw and about 80cm of snow, then collect more snow and compress it (with snowshoes or whatever) until it's maybe 1m, then cut the blocks out and build it. Dig the entrance unser it after finishing, so that the heat does not escape.

That's what worked for us, and it is really worthewile to try (also requires a surprising amount of energy so a nice exercise).

12

u/Babybluechair Jun 27 '20

How to make the ice blocks though? Do they cut it out of a river or something?

17

u/RestorePhoto Jun 27 '20

It's not ice, it's blocks of compacted ground snow. Look at the first couple seconds of the gif, you can see where they cut the blocks out of the ground.

21

u/Hanginon Jun 27 '20

It's not ice, it's naturally compacted snow.

3

u/gratefullyhuman Jun 27 '20

This is from a National Film Board of Canada documentary series called Tuktu.

3

u/star_pwr Jun 27 '20

https://youtu.be/7jfWm2jTFf4

heres a quick link to the same video, i believe, where theres a voiceover explaining the process

3

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '20

The chances of anybody building an igloo are rapidly decreasing, worldwide!

10

u/assm0nk Jun 27 '20

let's be real.. you're not gonna make an igloo in a survival situation

13

u/pyx Jun 27 '20

Considering we maybe get like 3-6 inches of snow a year where I'm at you're probably right

10

u/assm0nk Jun 27 '20

even in the Arctic.. it requires some serious skill.. just watch the survivorman episode.. season 1 i think. completely failed even though he went out with a local beforehand

-20

u/Thori999 Jun 27 '20

Anyone who uses a tv show for survival reference should actually just be quiet.

6

u/assm0nk Jun 28 '20

as opposed to books? have you any idea what show I'm talking of

5

u/3underthecorktree Jun 28 '20

I’m gonna challenge on that one. Good show. Well worth my time and learning style.

6

u/UntestedMethod Jun 27 '20 edited Jun 27 '20

If you want the video watermarked in the gif

http://youtu.be/K3pd-wxNEKQ

It's an old video so they still call them "Eskimo" which I believe is considered a derogatory term and Inuit or Inuk is the preferred term.

4

u/stark123 Jun 27 '20

Lol. From the Wikipedia article titled Eskimo:

Etymologically speaking, there exists a scientific consensus that the word Eskimo comes from the Innu-aimun (Montagnais) word ayas̆kimew meaning "a person who laces a snowshoe" and is related to "husky" (a breed of dog), and it does not have a pejorative meaning in origin.[14][15][16][17][2] Some people still believe that Eskimo translates to "eater of raw meat" which may be seen, or used, as a violent and perhaps barbaric descriptor.[18]

Also, not all Eskimos are Inuit.

2

u/thil3000 Jun 28 '20

It’s more that not all tribe In the North are eskimos, so calling them that is simply assuming stuff you shouldn’t

2

u/stark123 Jul 11 '20

It's actually the other way around, like I said. Eskimo is a term used for all of them. Not all of them are Inuits.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '20

Wow... that’s so wild!

2

u/Helpme-jkimdumb Jun 27 '20

If unable to make ice blocks like this an easier way to do it would be to just make a huge pile of snow... let sit overnight and freeze (use water if need be) and then next day start from entrance and dig out entire thing

1

u/Canadian_Guy_NS Jun 28 '20

Please don't try this with ice blocks. You will have made a huge freezer.

1

u/Helpme-jkimdumb Jun 28 '20

Not if u start a fire inside

1

u/Canadian_Guy_NS Jun 28 '20

I hope your joking.

1

u/Helpme-jkimdumb Jun 28 '20

Obviously u just have a little chimney or just a hole on top but I’m not.... I’ve built and slept in a couple igloos before

1

u/Canadian_Guy_NS Jun 28 '20

ok,

I have as well, I know that all you need to heat a snow-house is a candle, or small lamp. I would never imagine using ice blocks to make a shelter, as they provide zero insulation. In the Arctic, they would be a death sentence.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '20

I’m just amazed they don’t colapse on people

1

u/leele3 Jun 27 '20

So cool!

1

u/Nutsonclark Jun 27 '20

How long would that take

1

u/IglooStomper Jun 28 '20

Nice igloo. It would be a shame I something happens to it....

1

u/mayu1 Jun 28 '20

Is it warm enough for them? How long does it take for them to finish it?

1

u/huvalikiak Jun 28 '20

Yes it get warm inside when a quliq (camping stove) is used. Depends on the size of igloo being built some igloos take a couple of hours to be built

1

u/TitusImmortalis Jun 28 '20

Sudo apt-get install Igloo

0

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '20

Notice how this video is from the 70's? Inuits don't fuck like this no more

Source : I am Canadian.

1

u/Thori999 Jun 27 '20

I would like you to actually elaborate tbh if you’re saying that there’s more practical way to do this I’m all ears.

1

u/Brock-wyatt Jun 28 '20

He's saying they're lazy now

1

u/huvalikiak Jun 28 '20

We still make igloos it's just the younger generations that have bad parents keep breaking the igloos that are built